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September 5, 2014

William Perry Coffey (1857-1926)

Part IV
William's first wife, Jane Helen Wemple passed away sometime between Jun 15, 1880 and Jul. 7, 1882. She was present in the household at the 1880 census and on that date in 1882 [date unproven], William married her sister, Mary Ellen.

Mary Ellen had been previously married to John J. Roark on Oct. 8, 1876 in Howell Co., MO1 In 1880 she was living with her father but Mr. Roark was not in the household and, there were no Roark children in the family. William and wife Jane were enumerated in an adjacent household.The children born to William and Mary Ellen were as follows:

Vital Record Amendment to BirthRecord for Allene Margruette Coffey (Hart)

Samuel Wemple, born Mar. 25,1883 in Howell Co., died Dec. 28, 1951 in Santa Cruz Co., CA. His spouse was Etta M. Fritz. [marriage date unknown] One child was born to this union. She was Allene Marguerette Coffey, born Nov. 10, 1912 in Phoenix, Maricopa Co., AZ. Her name is obscured on the face of the document. However, an Amendment to Vital Record was found in which personal affidavits by her aunt, Rosa L. Daugherty and cousin, Donald E. Doris in March, 1959, and a Baptism and Confirmation certificate by the Latter Day Saints Church, James W. Challis, Mission President, dated May, 1954 confirms her name and birth date.2 This same document shows the Registrant's name as "Allene Margruette Coffey (Hart)"

Etta may have died at the birth of Allene because in 1930 Sam appeared in the census for Pittsburg, Contra Costa, CA with wife Audrey B., a stepson named Howard Minkler, age 16, born in Oregon and Allene, daughter, age 17, born in Arizona.3 A bit of luck caused me to stumble upon the grave of Martha Jane "Mattie" Miller4 at Find A Grave. An obituary and bio on that site told me that she had been previously married to Frank Ransome Minkler. I believe there is an error in the bio however. She was likely Frank's first wife, and not his first. I also discovered that in addition to Howard, Audrey and Frank had a daughter named Audrey, born c1916. She does not appear in the 1930 census with Samuel and Audrey.

Frank Ransome Minkler and Audrey last appeared together as a family in the 1920 census for Eureka, Humboldt Co., CA.

Lula, second child born to William and Mary Ellen, arrived in West Plains on Oct. 16, 1884. She married George Washington Roberts there on May 22, 1905. George was born in Caney, Montgomery Co., KS on Dec. 22, 1884 and died in Eureka Humboldt Co., CA on Oct. 20, 1948. Lula died there on Feb. 11,1955. Both she and George are thought to have been buried at Ocean View Cemetery in Eureka. They likely had more children but I know of only three: Georgia Ellen; Frank Andrew and Gladys Louise.

Minnie followed Lula on Dec. 5, 1887 in West Plains but died there the following August and was buried there, site not known.

The family moved south from Missouri into Arkansas for awhile. It was there in Newport, Jackson Co. that the fourth child, Rose Etta was born on Jan. 14, 1889. The family moved on from there into OK where Rose is said to have married Clarence Elwood Woods on Aug. 6, 1911 in Nowata Co. [no marriage record found] In 1920 she and Clarence were found in Drumright, Creek Co., OK and 1930 in Tulsa, Tulsa Co., OK. Some genealogies report that Rose was first married to James Cook but, I have found no evidence of that. She and Woods were divorced and, in the 1940 census, Rose was enumerated as a divorced woman with seven children residing in Eureka, Humboldt Co., CA. That record shows that she was living in Sand Springs, OK in 1935 and in 1940 worked as a sales lady. Mr. Woods has not been located in that census and is said to have died in Los Angeles in Mar., 1948.Their children were:Elmer Clarence, born Jun 3, 1912 in Coffeyville, Montgomery Co., KS, died there in Apr., 1915. [no locations or confirmed sources]Glen Walter, work Aug. 9, 1914 in Coffeyville, married Jun. 8, 1940 to Obabel Ingerbretsen. [no locations or confirmed sources]Grace Margaret, born Aug. 27, 1916 in Drumright, Creek Co., OK.; married Ethridge Strickland on Sep. 1, 2939 and died on Feb. 20, 1987. [no locations or confirmed sources]Bruce Howard, born Sep. 30, 1919 in Bristow, Creek Co., OK; married Twila Schadawitz in 1943. [no locations or confirmed sources]
Lula Ellen "Bunny," born Jul. 7, 1922 in Bristow; married Howard Divinie on Sep. 12, 1946. [no locations or confirmed sources]

Elizabeth Ruth, born Sep 1, 1926 in Bristow, married Thurman Lanning on Dec. 20, 1952. I am unsure of the marriage date. Thurman had been previously married to Irene Alice Kasza in 1942. She died in Los Angeles, CA on Aug. 19, 1952 and was buried at Glendale, Los Angeles Co. in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in that city. Thurman died on Jul. 18, 2007 in Springfield, Lane Co., OR; Ruth died earlier on Jul. 27, 2002. Both are buried at Springfield Memorial Gardens, in Springfield, Lane Co., OR. Both Thurman and Ruth were Coffey Cousins.
There were two other children born to Clarence and Rose Etta; a son Bernard Vernon, born Jul. 18, 1929 in Bristow and a daughter, Barbara, born c1933 in OK. [no locations or confirmed sources]

Other sources from which info has been extracted include the documents "Descendants of William Perry Coffey" submitted by Judy Shinn Coffey in Feb., 2006 and, the document "Descendants of William E. Coffey" by Shirley Dawson in July, 2005. Shirley noted that the family surname was spelled Coffey from Edward. However, beginning with William E. forward, the family has been spelled Coffee. For photographs, see Parts I and II.

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